Monthly Archives: September 2014

After talking to Trevor ‘Shaggee’ O’Brien, sales and marketing guy at Nickel Brook, and finding out that Headstock came out in 2011, I realize it may not be a classic, but it sure has the spirit of one. Maybe it was the can that threw me off: it looks dated, but I love it. Orange and purple with sparkly green hops, hoppy music notes, and a yellow crescent moon and peace sign, this can evokes Woodstock AND features a rocking depiction of (someone who looks like) Stevie Ray Vaughan doing his thang. For those who don’t know what a headstock is: it’s the headpiece of a guitar; the instrument Vaughan mastered.

The beer itself is 7% and has 80 IBUs, which is pretty darn strong and bitter, but the magic of Headstock is that it tastes completely approachable and balanced. I could drink this at a music festival all day, and be completely at peace with the world. Cheers to you, Headstock.

According to Nickel Brook’s brewmaster Ryan Morrow, the beer is one of the brewery’s bestsellers, and has undergone some significant recipe changes in a relatively short period of time (many hoppy beers have, like 666): The name and look was chosen by our co-founder, John Romano. The recipe has undergone some significant changes over time. Initially we primarily used Nugget hops, to make a more amber coloured IPA, akin to Nugget Nectar from Troegs Brewery out of Pennsylvania. After some time we decided to move it more in the direction of a traditional West Coast IPA, and now Simcoe is the lead hop in the recipe.

Shaggee tells me the can is being rebranded (going the way of all Nickel Brook’s branding) this fall.

One of the most exclusive events of Toronto Beer Week, A Night With Great Lakes & Amsterdam, happened last Friday. I had my beloved Ezra and Sour Cherry Imperial Stout, plus many other barrel aged beers that reflected: 1) how much my palette has expanded 2) a new era of creativity in Ontario’s beer scene.

Thanks to Iain McOustra and Mike Lackey (plus a handful of beer making friends), I got to try beers with awesome names like Hanlan’s Point, Dalai Lambic, Crucible, Misdemeanor, and Sweet Zombie Jesus! …. with awesome flavour profiles to match.

Though I tried many praise-worthy things (including Distraction with Peaches, brewed using two yeasts and lacto, with a portion aged in barrels and fresh Ontario peaches added in secondary fermentation), I am going to focus on a beer that is so distinctly Canadian and exquisite, it deserves its own blog post: Fugue.

Fugue is a farmhouse ale with brett brux brewed with 100 litres of ice wine juice and aged for one year. It has an ABV of 10%, which McOustra tells me is now closer to 11% thanks to the brett drying out the beer. Ice wine is a Roman invention that was rejuvenated in 1972 by Canadians (with 75% currently hailing from Ontario), and is considered a delicacy due to how difficult it is to produce. On my first sip, I tasted notes of guava (like in the magnificent Gilligan Is Still Dead with brett), but then had a few more and got that distinct ice wine flavour. My friend Mathew suggested it was called Fugue because it doesn’t taste like a 10% beer, but McOustra admits that it has more to do with amnesia: Fugue came about because we brewed the original pilot batch during a particularly busy time last year and forgot about the brew until I came across the kegs six months later. Bit embarrassing but the beer turned out well.

Ice wine grapes – photo courtesy of jannadawnrose on Instagram

Asked how the beer came about, McOustra tells me: Our friend Dre [Andrea Glass], a winemaker from Niagara, offered us 100 L of Riesling ice wine juice that she had just pressed for a beer. We had brewed a collab the previous year with the same farmhouse yeast and ice wine juice on a small scale and it made sense to do it on a larger scale if the juice was available. The great thing about the juice was that it was 35 Plato which meant that we could use it as an adjunct to boost the alcohol. So we added it in the whirlpool to try and preserve the flavour as much as possible. Hopefully we will be able to brew it again later this year if Dre can come through with the juice for us. I was really happy that the fruit character came through in the final beer.

The event also featured an exclusive menu (that included corn dogs!) and both my curry soup and charred peach dish (with blue cheese and bacon) were incredible. Bar Hop is my favourite bar in the city because it not only has a great beer selection, but the food is incredible as well. They also have an affordable whiskey selection, and bartender Daeryun makes something called “butter bourbon” that I must try on my next trip to the Hop.

Daeryun working hard

What’s next for McOustra? I asked him, and here’s what he has to say:

I think innovation has been a big part of who we are over the past few years and should allow us to keep making interesting beers in the future. We are fortunate to have the pilot system and BrewHouse to run test batches and fine tune our recipes before releasing them on a larger scale. We plan to release an Adventure Brew at the BrewHouse every 10 days or so this winter in addition to our seasonals and vintage beers.

There are many songs that name drop big liquor brands. But are there any songs that name drop kinds of beer? As a music buff, I can’t name any. There are billions of songs out there! At least some awesome bands should have dropped a nerdy reference to beer, right?

This week my dreams are coming true: there are unique barrel aged beers all over Toronto and it’s beautiful!! Here’s a recap of The Sacred Oak, plus a couple other exciting events:

1. The Sacred Oak: A Night of Barrel Aged Beer (Sat. Sept. 13 at Indie Alehouse’s barrel aging facility, 165 Geary Ave.): My first beer was Kentucky Sour, a 6.7% bourbon barrel aged sour from Nickel Brook. Funny enough, I had tried this at Bar Hop earlier this year, but this time the bourbon characteristic came through much more (probably due to aging). It was perfect. Then I tried Iain McOustra’s Superstition and everything changed. This is a perfect beer because so many complex notes come through from the barrel. It’s advertised as a 6.5% barrel aged farmhouse. When I tried it, I got a juicy bright fruity IPA aged with peaches and maybe chardonnay barrels. Then I spoke with Iain, and there are no peaches in this beer. I’m blown away. Can’t wait to drink it again at A Night With Great Lakes & Amsterdam…

2. A Night With Great Lakes & Amsterdam (Fri. Sept. 19 at Bar Hop): I already wrote about this here but I am super duper psyched and you’ll be hearing all about it once (or twice) again. Be at Bar Hop this Friday at 5 p.m. Do it. It may change your life.

3. Cantillon Zwanze Day/Funk Night (Sat. Sept. 20 at bar Volo): According to a group of gentlemen I chatted with at The Sacred Oak, this year’s Zwanze Day sold out in 45 seconds. In case you don’t know, Belgian brewery Cantillon makes the mother of all sours, and Volo’s getting kegs and bottles of stuff you normally don’t see much of in Toronto. So this is probably the biggest beer nerd event of all time. Lucky for us plebs, Funk Night happens 7 p.m. onwards, where we will drink whatever is left of that Cantillon, plus sooo many funked out brews until late. I’m seeing Lena Dunham front row centre at JFL42 and then coming here. That’s a perfect night, folks. See you there.

Planning on coming to these events? Send a shout-out my way @ccprmaven and let’s have a beer together!

The ’90s were a much simpler time for brewing beer in Ontario. When Ken Woods started Black Oak Brewing back in 1999, he launched two British style classic ales: the Pale and Nut Brown ales. Beers weren’t very hoppy back then. This beer easily withstands the test of time, though. Even in a hops-obsessed craft beer market.

Black Oak Pale Ale is nutty (thanks to toasted wheat), light and balanced while full of flavour. It’s really good with food. And, hey! It still has its original branding! (So you can feel like you’re back in the 90s.) Cheers, Ken.

This comes in six packs at The Beer Store, and they’ve recently started selling them in 650 mL bottles for $4.95 at the LCBO. So affordable, so good. I suggest you revisit this old classic while rocking out to the Goo Goo Dolls.

One of my favourite blogs, School House Booze (aka Tipsy Teachers), approached me this summer to “teach Chemistry” on their blog (write some beer cocktail recipes, explore how beer is made, etc.). They had seen this post on my communications blog and figured I’d like to write about beer (they were right).

Check out my first post featuring a summery beer cocktail here! I’m joined by a bunch of awesome supply teachers, all contributing to a different subject. I’m honoured to be part of this, and excited to read everyone’s stuff!

What would you like to see me write about? Any particular beer styles you are fond of? What about classic cocktails you’d like me to recreate with beer? Let me know by commenting here, or tweet me @ccprmaven!

If there is one kind of beer I like more than anything, it’s gotta be a barrel aged beer. Barrel aged with brettanomyces, specifically.

Last year I had my first taste of heaven when I tried a bottle of Sour Cherry Imperial Stout, aged in Pinor Noir barrels, at the Amsterdam Brew House.

Later that fall I tried Red Tape from Indie Ale House, another Pinot Noir aged Imperial Stout, and though awesome, I missed the slight sourness that brettanomyces, lactobacillus, and the cherries gave Amsterdam’s version. I had to have more.

Lucky for me, fall is upon us, and the beer gods have descended! Thanks to Toronto Beer Week (Sept 12-20), September is hosting two awesomely fantastic barrel aged beer events, and I’m going to both of them. First up is The Sacred Oak at Indie Ale House’s barrel aging facility on September 13th, and then comes the joint Great Lakes Brewery and Amsterdam Brew House’s tap takeover, A Night With Great Lakes & Amsterdam, at Bar Hop on September 19th. I can hardly contain my excitement. Among all the gems available on the 19th will be my favourite beer of the summer: Ezra, from the Tank Ten Series. It’s a strong saison aged in Spirit Tree cider barrels, with a slight sour funk from the brett they add to their cider. It’s the summer version of Sour Cherry Imperial Stout, and it’s perfection.

Oh, and the Sour Cherry Imperial Stout is making a comeback too (thanks to Iain McOustra and Flat Rock Cellars), this time without the brett. I’m expecting more of a bold wine flavour.

Look out for many a post about these takeovers, because I’ve only touched the surface here. Some really cool things are happening in the Toronto craft beer scene right now.